As she was the first elephant born in Cologne when they started there a huge breeding program, she made the headlines similar to Knut, especially after she became an orphan some months later in December when the life of her mother Khaing Lwin Htoo (26) had to be ended after suffering from painful infections of the bladder (retroflexio versicae)...Hier mit der Mama...- Here with Mama...Auch in der Krimiszene machte sie sich einen Namen....-She also made herself a name in detective stories.... Aber den Vogel schießt sie ab mit ihrer 3. Geburtstagssfeier...Oder haben Sie etwa schon mal aus Elefantendung Papier gemacht...? Marlar macht alles möglich...-

But the clou is her third birthday party, this time celebrated one day in advance...So have you ever recycled elephant dung/muck into paper...? With Marlar everything is possible...So all the best to the most famous elephant around Cologne...

Eine aufreibende Suche im Internet begann und hier ist das Ergebnis....die kleine Dea aus dem Zoosafari Park Fasano in Italien....This Dutch article made us ask where is the fourth cub born during this winter...?We know about the Aalborg baby, we know about Walker and Swimmer who died so tragically but a fourth cub...? So behind the curtains, an attritional search started in several corners of the world, from Düren came the first information...There is a girl called Dea...And some hours later Martina from Germany found the photos....By the way, something in the article was not correct. It was stated that neither in the US nor in Asia cubs were born. But who carefully follows the news in the K-Files will know that there are cute twins of yet undetermined sex born in Sapporo who had just been presented to the public a couple of days after the first public appearance of Swimmer and Walker...

This little beauty, born in November and presented now to the public, lives in Italy, in a park called Zoo Safari Park Fasano. It's the third time that polar bear offspring was produced here, 2 sisters Noel (2005) and Snowy (2008??) are living today in Berlin (????) and Copenhagen (??) . Marissa, the mom of the little one, is 13 years old and weighs some 400 pounds, father Felix (from Germany)weighs some 600 pounds. The vets were able now to determine the sex of the little one, a girl! Her name is Dea....

So , wer und wo sind also Noel und Snowy....? -So who and where are Noel and Snowy...?

I know, I know! You must think that we are a bit crazy, again another country, so what? Polar bears are just cosmopolitans...and we proove it! Today I invite you to South America, to Argentina - the land of the latin lovers ...Me too, I'm excited, how will be the girls over there...? So, let's have a look.

Whether the polar bears in Argentina dance the tango you want to know?To be honest , I have no clue at all. Taking the photo I just found on the net last minute before my departure (see above pic), you could just think so, I found it together with another one (2) showing lots of other polar bears, obviously much more than Argentina accomodates actually...Nun also zu den echten Eisbären. Dieses Paar wurde mir als das ganz besonders entzückendes Paar der Hauptstadt Buenos Aires vorgestellt...Aber wie man sehen kann, keine Spur von leidenschaftlichem Tangotanz...

That seems to be the lesson a zoo in Mendoza has learned, after its 23-year-old bear Pelusa was sprayed with an antiseptic spray that turned her normally white fur a dark shade of violet.

The unusual color — a temporary side effect of the treatment for dermatitis — has turned the aging bear into a minor celebrity in Argentina and prompted thousands of schoolchildren and tourists to make their way to the Jardin Zoologico de Mendoza in the western city beneath the snow-capped Andes.

"We never thought she would get all the attention she's now receiving," veterinarian Alberto Duarte told The Associated Press when reached by telephone in Mendoza, 640 miles west of Buenos Aires. "We've had calls from Spain and e-mails from around the world asking about the bear."

The newspaper Los Andes, of Mendoza, reported that Pelusa's new look has turned her into the zoo's most popular attraction, surpassing giraffes Tommy and Belen.

The spray applied to Pelusa is similar to one used by pediatricians to treat children's scraped knees or lab technicians to stain micro-organisms for examination under microscopes.

Pelusa, a 395-pound bear has been temporarily placed in a cage because of the treatment, and is separated from her mate, Arturo. She is also kept back a distance from the public.

The separation, Duarte said, was needed to keep Pelusa from taking her regular plunge into an icy pool of water at the polar bear compound. That would have washed away the medicine prematurely, he said.

The isolation has not seemed to bother Pelusa but it has left Arturo, a 16-year-old male almost double the weight of his mate, a bit grumpy, Duarte said.

After all, the two — who have been together for years — have been kept apart for 20 days.

"The only one a bit anxious is Arturo, but they'll be back together soon," Duarte said. "Pelusa's condition is improving and in one more week we will stop with the antiseptic and she'll again be able to take her normal baths."

He added that once Pelusa begins to swim again, "she will lose her violet color" quickly.

Until then, though, she'll have to endure the crowds peering into her pen and possibly even the occasional paparazzi looking to snap a shot or two.

Conclusion:If you only look for tango dancing polar bears and Latin Lovers in Argentina, then you might get disappointed (no tango and latin lover always tired), if you are looking for nice polar bear gals, you might get disappointed too as they seem to be already older and without exception living in long time partnerships but surely with a sense for colours...!!! Purple, wasn't that the colour of the witches...?Las brujas bailan en la noche, maybe they do the tango and had played some magic tricks here in Bearlin too...

Note: I just found out that Knut Home 2 also had an article featuring hairs of polar bears and mentioning Pelusa...If I had read that before I could have spared myself some digging...By the way, regards to Hupsi...!

Join in...60 EARTH HOURS.....and here a WWF link where you can find lots of information about polar bears... The photo above forms part of an animation (page 8) of fact sheets concerning endangered species, if you want to know more, read the 10 case studies- starting with Polar bears and ending with the Albatross....

"... Polar bears face a new threat from mankind in the form of chemical andradioactive pollution and the effects of global warming. Their Arcticenvironment is widely contaminated by a number of persistent organic pollutants(POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlordanes. In 1997,Norwegian scientists found several hermaphrodite polar bear cubswith highlevels of PCBs in their systems. Radioactive contamination is of potentialconcern in the Russian Arctic (Pearce 1998): reactors discarded from nuclearsubmarines, as well as dumping of nuclear waste (which has also occurred inAlaska) is "a time bomb", according to some experts. ..." (highlighted by me).

SO JOIN IN AND VOTE EARTH...

YOUR LIGHT SWITCH IS YOUR VOTEThis year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the worldâ€™s first global election, between Earth and global warming.For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote â€“ Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Romeâ€™s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you are from, but instead, what planet you are from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.

We all have a vote, and every single vote counts. Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations.

VOTE EARTH by simply switching off your lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour.

Dienstag, 24. März 2009

Sad news come often unexpected and sometimes they travel slowly. In this case it was unexpected as I did not know about her being ill. She had a tumor and her life had to be ended last Saturday...She was the Lady of the White Ones', the only female in the pack who had everything under control...Farewell and R.I.P. , you will be missed too...!

23.03.2007 ...It was a Friday....First public appearance of...A little polar bear in Bearlin...Together with a somehow untypical polar bear Mom...Same time in Rodrigues/Indian Ocean.......a dog with red-brown fur waiting for some chicken bones...And two days later....Sunday then...

Knut is…when Papi Simba on 25th March shouted from the living-room, “You know, in Berlin they have now a little polar bear…” And Mami Simba thought “ Little polar bear, nice, so what…?? Haven‘t there been any other important news in the world ?”Knut is… how she walked next morning to her ex-(free) online-center, and how she googled then fully automatically, means without any thinking, polar bear cub and Zoo Berlin even before she checked her e-mails (!!!)….and that she detected then that the Internet had already listed several thousand entries and that she found out the name, …just Knut, simply Knut…Knut is…how she watched then a discovered video time and time again, that she asked the cleaningand security staff to join her, that she virtually forced them to watch it too, not to mention all the other people waiting for the PC in the queue…just to exceed shamelessly the 10 minutes limit and also to avoid leaving that place completely tear-stained as this tiny tot, hold by his eminently special mommy was just too much for her simple knitted island nature…Knut is…that consecutively one could find her nearly every day 8 o‘clock sharp, before she continued then her odyssee to the next computers, in the beginning with 3 Floppys in her bag, shortly later with at least 10 …and yes, after not even one week all the tourists knew too that she was queuing again for Knut …at home then downloading everything on the homey PC with a HD indicating each week a memory decrease of at least 2% …

And today...Knut is...increase of disk space, pen drive instead of floppys, ADSL instead of a dial up connection, running 2 blogs and 3 mail accounts...and being completely hooked even after 2 years...so it got even worse!

Sonntag, 22. März 2009

Swimmer, yesterday in Dierenpark Ouwenhands/Rhenen in Holland...impressed visitors with her energy and agility...Yes, Swimmer was a she, and not a boy, as I had still assumed until this morning...And she could already swim...Remember Knut, who took in comparison ages...He needed 5 months for what little Swimmer just needed 3! (Please don't get me wrong, I speakabout swimming and not about dying).

So she played and swam with her brother, always under the watchful eyes of her mother Huggies who never moved too far from her...taking care of Swimmer, placing her whereever it seemed less dangerous...carrying her in her muzzle whenever she anticipated it as necessary... They were in the water together, Huggies producing big waves from time to time but giving both babes a ride on the back when she thought it was time for a break...But then, from one second to another they dived and Swimmer must have swallowed some water, didn't come up . Huggies noticed immediately that something was wrong and took her out...But for little Swimmer nothing more could be done. The reactions of Huggies and Walker must have been very hard to observe, I will spare you the details here because it will make you cry. At least I think so as it made me cry.

I want to thank Frau Schnatterliese for sending me these photos of yesterday which makes it possible for me to say Farewell to Swimmer in a different way and thanks to her report I have an idea what happened. And so I know now that Swimmer was the one with the power of two and being so tiny was at least during all activities not a handicap as so many thought, me included. An impressive fighter who even dared to give brother Walker a little slap when he finally got the courage to follow her and Huggies into the water...

It is very difficult to accept the rules of life and death, the waste when someone has to leave way too early, this concerns humans as it concerns the animals we have grown fond of, something which can happen in a spit of a second by a photo or by a report of just one day, which was certainly supposed not to be the last visit...

For those who want to read the English translation, you will find it here, just click on Kommentare , it's in the first comment.Again, thank you Liesel for sharing, hope you don't mind some mistakes as I did it fast...

Due to the latest topics again photos of Thomas Dörflein with the wolves...

I just saw that today ChristinaM posted a beautiful video about the feeding of the white wolves...don't miss it, either you click on the photo in the right column to honor Mr.Dörflein or visit directly ChristinaM's beautiful blog. Thank you ChristinaM for sharing and reviving these intense moments.

Who wants to lay hands on the original K-files, all coming in the typical outpost outfit pdf and usually including photos found within the Aussendienstnetz, just click on the file covers, download starts after filling in the 3 letter code.Attention: please click the FREE download option and not Premium as this will cost you then. We apologize for any inconvenience, unfortuantely we can't stop the ads!